Hi sir @fulltimegeek. I'm not sure if you're being serious or not. But in case you are...
I'm a geology student and I do not agree that we're only being tricked to believe that the Earth is an oblate spheroid for the following reasons:

• Almost all measurements, tools, equipment, prediction models, and etc about our planet (at least in the field where I belong - geology) is based from physics principles and the fact that the Earth is oblate spheroid in shape - From identifying earthquake-prone areas such as the Circum Pacific belt. The tools used - seismographs, magnetic compasses etc. Finding oil, determining our geological history (how our current mountains, landscapes, etc turned out to how it looks right now), etc. These all are based from the fact that the Earth is nearly spherical.
  Also, these models:

  • are very hard to prove (it's heavily criticized, specially the big models),
  • requires data which are hard to get (one would be walking and hiking through various landforms),
  • have undergone various data gathering since 1800s (even before NASA).

  With that, there's not reason to just trick the people. Telling and even publishing lies would only render those hard work useless.

  To add to that, these geological models are being applied. If we do not know the areas mostly susceptible to earthquake, many would have been dead right now and many more will die in the future for living along those fault systems.

  I recommend the following books to be read:

  • Essentials of Geology (Chapters 15-17) by Lutgens F. et al
  • Structural Analysis and Synthesis (Chapter 17) by Rowland S.M. et al
  • The Earth Through Time by Levin H.
  • Field Geophysics by Milsom J.

• With regards to NASA: It would be useless to go to space, see the true shape of the earth, and not tell the truth.

• I found a live feed here: earth live